The growth of the computer industry has led to the vast popularity of electronic documents and electronic document creation tools. What historically was created by hand, using typewriters, or using typeset printing is now typically created on a computer. Electronic documents may be easily edited and formatted before printing or may be placed in a centralized file server or onto a Web server to facilitate electronic access via the Internet. As the availability and use of electronic documents and tools to create such electronic documents has increased, a new application concept was developed for managing the creation and deployment of electronically created documents. Content Management Systems (CMS), Document Management Systems (DMS), Web Content Management Systems (WCMS), Enterprise Content Management Systems (ECMS), and the like, were developed to assist in the process of managing, creating, and deploying electronically created content.
CMS systems are typically used by large corporations to manage and organize the lifecycle of documents that are used or generated by the company. Routinely, a team of people are tasked with developing content, while other people, whether part of the same team or not, are tasked with reviewing the content, and while still other people may be given the authority to approve the content for final release. While some of each of the people involved in this content creation process may be the same, the typical organization is implemented with multiple people, where some people have authority to create and others have authority to approve and publish the content.
WCMS systems are a subset of CMS systems specifically intended to assist in the creation and maintenance of the lifecycle of Web pages and/or Web sites. Web pages and Web sites are typically designed by one or more teams of people. One team or group may be responsible for developing the graphics, while another team or group may be responsible for developing the content. WCMS systems allow for the group to work on the graphics and content of the Web site under development by managing versions of the various Web pages and permissions assigned to the various developers.
WCMS systems are typically implemented with a WCMS server that specifically serves the management application. The WCMS server is generally separate from the Web server that hosts the companies' Web site. The company that is developing the Web site will usually have a WCMS server, a Web server (whether the Web server is hosted by the company sponsoring the Web site or hosted by a third-party), an email server, and a file system. The filing system may include any type of remote filing system, such as WebDAV, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Secure FTP (SFTP), Local Area Network (LAN), or the like. The Web pages under development are typically stored on the WCMS server using the filing system in which the developers having access to the WCMS server to work on the Web pages under development. A piece of content, such as a Web page, advertisement, press release, and the like, that is under development is sometimes referred to as a Work In Progress (WIP). The WCMS, working in conjunction with the filing system, will typically control who may have access to the WIP, whether that person is authorized to publish or deploy the WIP onto the live Web server. Thus, a WCMS system is typically a complex and elaborate system that is somewhat difficult to deploy and use. Because it generally requires its own server in addition to the Web server, email server, and file system, many smaller and medium-sized companies cannot take advantage of its benefits because of the expense of such a large and complex system.
CMS/DMS/ECMS systems are similar paradigms to a WCMS, but have a broadened scope that manages the lifecycle of documents or content instead of just managing Web pages or Web sites. CMS systems also typically require their own servers to manage the CMS operation. The CMS server is also separate from the live server that the content will eventually be deployed on, such as a Web server used to provide Intranet access, or other server providing the electronic access point. Additionally, the finalized content may eventually be published or printed onto paper or other tangible media for review. Such CMS systems also typically include an email server, to facilitate messaging between people in the content creation and approval workflow, and a filing system, where electronic documents are stored. Again, such systems are large, complex, and expensive which means that many smaller and medium-sized companies cannot afford to implement such applications.